This chapter's a little short, but some really important things get established, and as I was splitting the sections up, it just naturally happened that this chapter got a little less content than the others. Maybe I'll make up for it by posting the next chapter a little earlier than usual. ;D

Also, to my ONE reviewer:

I LOVE YOU.

That is all. :')

Lea knows he has to leave soon—he's put off mentioning it to Isa on purpose. He absentmindedly weaves his fingers through Isa's hair, and sighs as he prepares to say something about it.

He is surprised when Isa speaks up before him, "You have to go, don't you?"

Lea flinches, a little unprepared, "…yeah."

Isa lifts his head off of Lea's chest and the latter has to swallow before he says something stupid, because for all the intent that Isa is projecting, he looks so damn CUTE.

He clears his throat, gazes elsewhere before the guilt can change his mind, "I should probably get ready."

He sneaks a glance back, but the same intent, longing look awaits him.

"…I really do have to go, you know."

He feels the soft thump of Isa's head dropping back onto his chest, "I know."

"You're…not upset?"

"I am upset."

It takes all of a minute before Lea breaks the comfortable silence again and says, "I promise you, if anything happens to me, I'll kick some ass."

Lea feels fingers curl affectionately into the fabric of his shirt, "You promise?"

Lea sits up and Isa follows suit until he's straddling the other boy, knees flush on either side. He feels warm hands on the sides of his face, leans forward until their foreheads are touching.

"Get it memorized."

Lea barely remembers untangling himself from Isa. Aside from the way Isa unabashedly held his hand the entire way, and the subsequent blush that crept over his face because of it, Lea can't really remember the last twenty minutes at all (the whole public display of affection bit might've had something to do with that, but that's beside the point).

All Lea can currently focus on is the small of Isa's retreating back as they split ways, and the way an unsettling feeling washes over him, making him want to reach out and pull the other boy back. He can't really explain it—just a gut-feeling, something that hits him like a ton of bricks. For a moment, he can understand how Isa has felt all day, inexplicable, unexplainable.

But in the next moment he is pushing everything down and biting back the words forming in the back of his throat. He shakes himself into a state of resolve, tells himself that it's silly. He turns around and rings the doorbell, reminding himself that he has to focus on the task in front of him. The door opens and he shifts his gaze downward, smiling warmly as the small figure clinging to the door takes a second to realize who he is.

"Mr. Lea!"

Lea suddenly finds himself being assaulted by the small girl, but he's anticipated it, has crouched down so that she ends up jumping into his arms. He uses the momentum to start swinging her in circles as infectious laughter escapes into the air. Then he hoists her up onto his shoulder and carries her inside.

"How's my favorite princess today?"

She giggles and pulls softly at his hair for balance, "I'm great! Because—! Because—! Out of all my babysitters, you're my favorite!"

Lea takes a moment to genuinely smile, "Well, your favorite babysitter wants to know what game we're playing today. Does the princess need a prince again?"

"Naw, that's boring. Today you're a pirate. You have to try and kidnap me!"

Lea feels her hop off his shoulder and take off in a random direction, leaving a trail of hysterical laughter in her wake.

He smirks, amused, "Whatever you say, Kairi."

It is only by coincidence that the quickest route to Isa's house goes past the castle. Isa can't help but stop and stare up at the ivory gates towering over the entrance. It's only begun to darken outside, and Isa can see the lights of a few rooms here and there. For no reason in particular, other than because he feels like it—and really, this is the reason for pretty much anything he does—Isa counts all the lit windows and gets seven.

There have only ever been seven—small pinpoints of light on the verge of being swallowed by the sheer immensity of the building's dark silhouette. Isa vaguely wonders about the inhabitants of each room and comes to the sad realization that seven lit windows probably means that all the castle's residents are alone, without even the company of each other.

He reminds himself that this is not necessarily true—there isn't any further indication to prove this. Still, he can't shake the unnerving atmosphere that permeates from what is supposed to be the town's symbol of hope, of science and progress. The fact that the castle is much too large for only seven inhabitants in the first place only seems to add to the emptiness that fills the area.

Isa grips the ironwork of the gate and doesn't know why it bothers him so much. He looks up at the vast expanse of stone and feels like he's about to be engulfed.

This isn't the first time Isa has thought about these things. Ever since him and Lea broke into the place, it's been weighing on his mind. Breaking into the place was supposed to be harmless—just a stupid whim of Lea's that he got roped into. But ever since then the place has severely creeped him out.

He grips the bars tighter and suddenly has the urge to do something irrational. Before he can dispel it, he's scaled the gate and jumped over to the other side. He thinks for a moment how uncharacteristic this is of him, can't help but compare this to something Lea might do, but Isa's been acting strange all day anyway.

The trouble is, now that he's climbed over the gate, he can't really think of what to do next. He just stands at the foot of the stairs leading up to the door, staring up at the immense waste of brickwork. He wonders briefly if the reason Ansem never leaves the castle is because the stairs are too much of a hassle to climb.

He mutters to himself, "Well. This is stupid."

He turns around to re-scale the gate, only to have his heart jump at the sound of what he can only assume is one of the castle's guards.

"Hey! You there!"

He instinctively takes off at a run, jumps onto the bars of the gate, and proceeds to haphazardly climb his way up. He hears the heavy shuffle of thick boots and doesn't bother trying to avoid making the metal clang like he did the last time. He wishes he were more graceful at this, wishes that he had Lea's physical prowess instead of two awkward left feet. He can't seem to find his footing for half the climb, and his hands have gone clammy and half numb from the panic.

By the time he reaches the top his arms are about to give out. He vaguely thinks that it wasn't this tiring the first time he went over the gate—then again, he wasn't being chased by a guard. He tries to push through the muscle fatigue—he just needs to hoist himself over the top and he'll be good—but as his arms shake from the effort, his clammy hands get the best of him and he slips.

He hits the ground much sooner than he expects, a sickening crunch of gravel sounding under the weight of his skull. A rush of dizziness presses against the back of his eyes and he can't seem to pick himself back up immediately. A cloud of black starts fuzzing over his vision as he mentally screams at himself to get up, but this only compounds the ache in his head. He can hear footsteps getting closer, hears a gruff voice from somewhere above him.

"Shit."

Isa wishes the guard had something more eloquent to say, because this is the last thing he remembers before passing out.